A man of faith who embraced his roots. A mentor, a football player and coach. And a friend to children and the enemy of gang members.
That is how those who knew Hector Cuevas Jr., 36, are remembering the San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy who died in a traffic collision during a pursuit of a reported stolen car in Victorville on Monday, March 17.
The man they were chasing, Ryan Dwayne Turner Jr., 22, was being held Tuesday without the possibility of bail at High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony evading causing death and possession of a stolen vehicle. He had not yet been charged.
Rialto police say Turner had been out of jail for five months when Monday’s crash happened, following a conviction involving another police chase that resulted in a collision.
Another driver, who said she didn’t hear the pursuing deputies coming, was recovering from her injuries after colliding with Cuevas’ patrol car.
San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman stood in the middle of Lena Road in San Bernardino on Monday, awaiting the procession escorting the deputy’s body to the Coroner’s Office. He hired Cuevas when Goodman led the Upland Police Department.
“Hector was like a little brother to me,” Goodman said. “I enjoyed listening to his excitement about doing police work. He genuinely loved the job and treated each day at work like an opportunity, not an obligation. I will truly miss him.”
Goodman described Cuevas as “a cop’s cop. The one you’d want with you in that dark alley. The one who loved working with kids. The one who would work tirelessly to bring closure to crime victims.”
One of those was Nay Nay Owens, who posted a tribute to Cuevas on a Victor Valley Facebook page.
“I’m sick to my stomach right now,” Owens wrote on Monday. “The officer killed today was the best officer up here. He was there for me when I was too scared and weak to take the stand for myself and was there for my kids. He was their mentor. He would go to their schools, check on them, keep them out of trouble and helped me in many ways.”
Bishop Kenneth Wells of Spirit of Love Christian Church in San Bernardino, which Cuevas attended, described the deputy as his godson.
“We lost our hero today,” Bishop Wells wrote on Facebook. “Please pray for his wife and two small children. His mother Liz and father Hector Sr.”
The church featured Cuevas in a video during Black History Month in 2022 that showed images of him from various stages of his life.
The narrator said Cuevas was born in Los Angeles and early on in life was inquisitive about his African-American and Hispanic roots. He traced his family’s history back to Africa and proudly identified himself as Black.
Cuevas attended Carter High in Rialto, where he played football before graduating in 2007. He then went to Central State University in Ohio, where he again played football and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2013.
Cuevas returned to Rialto, where he was an assistant coach on the freshman football team at Carter High from 2015 to 2017. He mentored players on life after football, the narrator said. He also spearheaded the church’s Christmas toy drive.
Even people who didn’t know Cuevas offered tributes.
Half a world away in Nigeria, Miracle Widsom Ogiadomeh, a 21-year-old student who posts to Facebook under the name Miracle’s Kreations, displayed a pencil sketch she drew of Cuevas. She has drawn numerous other officers and K9s who have died in the line of duty.
“Seeing the outpouring of love and respect from his department, family, and community really moved me,” Ogiadomeh said in an interview. “I create these tribute arts to honor fallen officers and K9s because I see how much they meant to their families and departments. It’s my way of giving back and keeping their memory alive and showing that their service and sacrifice won’t be forgotten.”
Sheriff Shannon Dicus summarized the sentiments about Cuevas at a news conference Monday.
“He was described as a devout family man and by his law enforcement partners as a cop’s cop who had the ability to go between dealing with the most hardcore gang member to turning around and being able to talk to a child and make sure they felt safe and knew they were protected,” Dicus said.
The department’s investigation into the collision was in its early stages Tuesday.
The crash happened at El Evado and Seneca roads after deputies began pursuing the car around 10:58 a.m. Cuevas was behind the lead patrol car when the crash happened. His car hit a pole and the other car hit a box containing electrical equipment. Taylor was arrested after he stopped his car and ran.
KCBS/2 identified the driver of the car that collided with Cuevas’ as Marcelline Demyan.
Demyan told the station that the light for her had just turned green and she was attempting to make a left turn when they collided.
“He didn’t have the siren on, he didn’t have the noise on, nothing,” she said. “If I seen him I would’ve stopped, cause I know if it’s emergency we have to stop. But I didn’t see him.”
The sheriff’s pursuit manual defines a pursuit as “an event of one or more law enforcement officers operating motor vehicles and utilizing emergency lights and sirens…”
Mara Rodriguez, a sheriff’s spokeswoman, declined to comment on Demyan’s statement and had no information on the investigation to release Tuesday.
Rules for pursuits occupy 23 of the sheriff’s manual’s 934 pages and heavily emphasize safety. Deputies are supposed to take into account speed, terrain, weather, traffic and what the suspect is wanted for, among other considerations, when deciding whether to continue the chase.
“We’re constantly analyzing the danger to the deputy and to the public,” Dicus said.
Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling said officers have pursued Taylor before.
On Jan. 29, 2024, Kling said, his officers saw Turner driving a stolen car. He drove away as they attempted to stop the car , and a pursuit reaching 90 mph ended when the lead officer in the chase collided with another car at Foothill Boulevard and Meridian Avenue in San Bernardino. Police later arrested Turner, and he was charged with possession of a stolen car, grand theft auto and felony evading.
On Feb. 22, 2024, Turner pleaded guilty to grand theft auto, and the other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail, but because of the state law that grants inmates credits for good behavior, he was released after eight months, Kling said.
Had Turner served the full sentence, Kling pointed out, he would have still been in jail Monday.
“Ryan Turner’s actions speak loudly that he has a habitual pattern of fleeing law enforcement because he fears no consequences,” Kling said.